Hope everyone is unscathed for the most part after our topsy-turvy (understatement) of a voyage. It was great meeting some new friends on board. Thanks to Ricky and Family and the rest of the Beer Tasting Crew for sharing their extras with us, they were some tasty brews. Got to meet some great people all around.
We just made it back home on 11/3. This was 17 days after we left and a week later than we had planned or budgeted for and we arrived home at the Jersey Shore to no power, heat or water, entire towns wiped out, and no word from some friends and family. Power finally returned to us on 11/5, only to have to go through a nor'easter yesterday and today where we got 4-6" of snow. DH can't get to his job in NYC due to mass transit being suspended from home and carpooling limits on cars. This trip and the after-effects feel like Twilight Zone/Groundhog Day/The Perfect Storm/The Day After Tommorrow combined, but we will continue to get through it.
Some thoughts...
* Cruise was amazing for the first 5 days. Ship is gorgeous, even better than the Dream. Loved St. Maarten, wish we had more time to explore St. Thomas/St. John (too short of a stay). Naturally missing CC was a downer, would've loved to have actually had two sunny days at sea like PR Shill Rebecca Peddie claimed. The spin control on this is insulting to anyone that went through it.
* Felt that DCL and/or Captain Tom erred by sailing us directly into the SW bands of the hurricane. It was a Cat 2 on Thurs and a Cat 1 on Friday. Yes we know we all took a risk sailing in Hurricane season, but they don't just magically form around the boat. Just because the ship can handle a hurricane, doesn't mean it should be sailed directly into one. All other cruise lines either went east of the storm, stayed in port, never left port, or found the first safe port to ride it out. We've been through high seas, but never to that extent, and would not want to do it again. The mess in our cabin was shocking as well as the damage to the common areas of the ship. The free falls and slamming as we went over the swells (being deck 10 aft) were truly frightening. We were in Skyline when the first rogue wave hit as all the bottles off the bar came flying forward as the bar staff used their bodies as a barrier to prevent any others from falling. When we returned, our cabin looked like it was turned upside down and shaken with broken glass, destroyed personal effects, etc. Good thing we weren't there at the time, or we would've been cut up. Captain Tom's shaky voice in the middle of the night did nothing to instill any confidence in us. "E-eh-eh-everything is ah okay...." It spoke to the fact he knew he made a mistake but could do nothing but continue forward. The decision was made and to turn around at that point would have run the risk of more damage and even capsizing the ship. This was definitely a monetary consideration in our opinion. There's no other reason to race back to try and make it back to port on time. With passenger safety such a hot-button issue this year with Concordia, ships adrift at sea requiring airdrops, passengers being mugged while on excursions, and the 100th anniversary of the Titantic, you would think the cruise industry as a whole would err on the side of caution, especially DCL. The fact that they risked a $1 billion ship, it's passengers, and it's crew is disturbing and has really left a bad taste for cruising in general.
* Even as Gold members we are seriously considering never cruising with DCL again, which is unfortunate because we love it so much. The 25% off, is a slap in the face considering Canadian residents are getting that right now online and we can already get 10% when onboard. Does that mean the premium is only 15% additional, or do we get the 10% + the 25%? We saw previous posts stating this, but have yet to get confirmation from DCL. Even with 35% off, it will still be a difficult decision for us to make because of the handling of the situation, the lack of communication throughout and especially during debarkation, and our unscheduled and unbudgeted post stay.
* Speaking of post stays, DCL put us up at Caribbean beach for one night as we missed our flight, but when we had to extend our stay due to more flight cancellations, it was all on our dime. The resort did give us a Fantasy/Hurricane rate as well as over $700 in park hopper passes, but food is certainly not cheap. We inquired about swapping the PH passes for a meal plan, but the Resort kept passing the buck to DCL, and DCL basically left us high and dry stating to put it through insurance, you already got what we offered. The travel delay benefit through insurance is limited to $150 pp/pd up to $500 pp/per incident. Totaling up our post-cruise stay expenses which included hotel, food, medicine warmer clothing as it was dropping into the 40s at night, plus additional transportation costs, netted out at just under $2000. As everyone knows, eating even quick service food at the resort or parks is not cheap. They had no problem giving our PH passes like it was free candy, but when inquiring about a basic meal plan, they didn't even offer it up at a discount. All we got were fake plastic smiles and a sorry, our hands are tied, contact the cruise line. We can't even tell you the attitude we received from DCL as we tried to work our way up the food chain. We were basically told that we made it back safely, and that's it.
* Have already filed two insurance claims, 1 for the DCL part, the other for the air carrier, hopefully we'll get most of the extended trip expenses back, but that could take a while.
* Have already written a scathing letter to both Guest Comms departments at both DCL and WDW for their handling of the situation.
* To all the Monday Morning Quarterbacks out there that we saw post comments about how not so bad it was, please shut up. We certainly appreciate those who have come forward with words of empathy and encouragement. But unless you were there, you have NO right to say how it was or to say what we deserve or don't deserve as compensation.
BTW... Love the T-Shirts, but we're thinking of doing one as well, using our photo of Captain Tom from formal night, photoshopped with devil horns, tail, pitchfork and sinister grin.
Just glad there were no serious injuries, although we've read reports that crew members were.
Tommy & Corinne
To me on the upper decks the motion felt like mini earthquakes, or mild aircraft turbulence. In all my readings I never recall anyone describing the sensation as such. Perhaps it was Sandy the whole time.
for everyone who has gone though all of this.
